# Tobacco of the Month: Reiner Long Golden Flake (November 2012)



## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

November is here! Let's see some reviews of LGF! ipe:


----------



## Zeabed (Apr 23, 2009)

Although it is temporarily out of my rotation, I revisited this blend recently and found it still justifies my tobaccoreviews opinion (my handle there is "babysinister") of almost three years ago as a top-tier virginia-burley blend. 

This is a smooth and rich bodied blend. Bright gold Virginias at the forefront, followed and bodied-out by sturdy burley. The burley is earthy but subdued, not thick or heavy enough to dull the Virginia sweetness. Having tried it in a brand new pipe, the top of the bowl set my tongue a bit a-tingle with premonition of harshness and bite, which luckily didn't pan out. It soon resolved itself into bright, rich flavor with a savory needle-like sweetness that remained even after the burley and perique kicked in past mid bowl. 

Sweet and tangy, with a real tobacco taste. The perique is no powerhouse here, it's introduced subtly but effectively. This is probably the best melding of perique with Virginia and Burley that I've yet tasted.

You can fill it in the pipe by folding the flake or rubbing it - it works either way and the fill method would depend solely on your preference. Still a benchmark baccy experience for me.


----------



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Excellent review, babysinister! I don't anticipate a lot of unfavorables for this one and I couldn't agree more with your assessment. 

I have a plate full of US and LF drying, so that's gotta burn today, but tomorrow I think I'll be cranking up some LGF. I've smoked at least a half pound of it at this point, maybe three quarters of a pound, but I'll smoke another bowl or two to refresh my memory before posting. Glad to see LGF as the monthly tobacco.

Hey, wake up out there! Your homework is due!! oke:


----------



## Zeabed (Apr 23, 2009)

Thanks for the comment freestoke. The problem with getting enough reviews might be due to the fact that this is not the least expensive of blends, just because (afaik) you can only get it in 100g tins. If it were offered in 50g tins it would probably be less costly than most other baccy out there. But for me it was worth it, since it's a keeper.


----------



## doctorthoss (Jun 28, 2010)

I cracked open a ten-year-old (at least) tin a few months ago, smoked a few bowls and ultimately wound up putting it back in the cellar in disappointment. It wasn't one I cared for at all. It was far too mild, for one thing, and what flavor I got was quite nondescript. It also bit the heck out of me every time I lit it up. 

All that being said, I suspect I'm not the right kind of smoker to appreciate this one. I tend to gravitate toward full blends with lots of perique or latakia, such as Old Joe Krantz and Odyssey, as well as some Lakelands. As a result, I usually don't "get" the milder/subtler VAs. I even consider Full Virginia Flake to be thin and boring much of the time.

On the plus side, the presentation of this tobacco is one of my favorites. I love the tin and I love the huge, coiled up flake. It seems to be made of top-notch leaf -- it's just not the kind that I usually appreciate.


----------



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

doctorthoss said:


> I cracked open a ten-year-old (at least) tin a few months ago, smoked a few bowls and ultimately wound up putting it back in the cellar in disappointment. It wasn't one I cared for at all. It was far too mild, for one thing, and what flavor I got was quite nondescript. It also bit the heck out of me every time I lit it up.


I smoke strong tobacco, too, John, but I can't keep stoking rope and Royal Yacht all day long. Usually, my throttle-back smoke is PA or SWR or something equally flimsy, but when I have the Reiner open, it's a really good "breather" for me. Provided my Low Nicotine Warning Light isn't lit, LGF is really a satisfying change of pace for me. (I agree, it's one of the more amazing looking tobaccos. :shock


----------



## doctorthoss (Jun 28, 2010)

freestoke said:


> I smoke strong tobacco, too, John, but I can't keep stoking rope and Royal Yacht all day long. Usually, my throttle-back smoke is PA or SWR or something equally flimsy, but when I have the Reiner open, it's a really good "breather" for me. Provided my Low Nicotine Warning Light isn't lit, LGF is really a satisfying change of pace for me. (I agree, it's one of the more amazing looking tobaccos. :shock


I do smoke a few "milder" blends, but they tend to be either Carter Hall or aromatics like Classic Burley Kake, Autumn Evening, etc. Sadly, I have found that aromatics tend to be even worse about blasting my palate than are heavy English mixtures! 
I feel much the same way about LGF as I do about most VA-based flakes, with very few exceptions (mostly Lakelands) --- I just find them too mild and too subtle. YMMV, of course!


----------



## Desertlifter (Feb 22, 2011)

Reiner Long Golden Flake wins! Great! What the hell is it?

Too many BOTLs whose opinions I value were whoring this tobacco to make me feel overly bad about it being tobacco of the month, and somehow my innocently gifting some of my favorite pipe tobacco (Pembroke) to one of my favorite Texans resulted in a healthy flake showing in my mailbox. So winning.

Today was a meeting day, which translates to "smoke my pipe" before work. I woke up early, rubbed it out and left it on a paper towel to dry, and set to it. But first....a look. I smoke plenty of flakes - Uni Flake is another favorite and I have several others around - but this is a bit different. Not to the nose - a nicely sweet VA that has a bit of raisin sweetness and stares back at you with a nicely golden brown aspect. "Long Golden Flake" is not a misnomer. The flakes are longer than normal, and certainly gold in color. Not a sneaky tobacco. My immediate impression is....yum. You see, when I initially saw that this tobacco won the poll I had no idea that it was a VAPer. I like a good VAPer, so this was looking good.

Stuffed the rubbed out flake into my Stanwell and set to it with an orange juice chaser. I figured that the acidity of the orange would set well with the VA sweetness.

I was right. RLGF has a subdued and pleasant sweetness that sets itself nicely, framed by a light pepper from the perique. The bit of fruitlike note that I expect from the latter leaf was there as well, largely balanced by the touch of burley that carries this blend. And balance is likely the best way to describe this tobacco. It burns cool, even, and pleasant. I only had one relight through the entire bowl, which readily burned purtnear to the draft hole. As a morning smoke this was great - the VA isn't overly sweet, the perique doesn't blow out your sinuses, and the burley succeeds as a team player as well. Nic hit was minimal-medium and post-smoke I was ready for....more.

I'm sold. Reiner's Long Golden Flake is one worth keeping around for the VAPer fan, and I feel a good introduction to the type as well.


----------



## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

I'm probably not the only one annoyed by a certain type of review one runs into on tobaccoreviews. Like, say, a review of a big heavy lat bomb that says, "Terrible! But I hate Latakia, so YMMV." Or a review of a strong nic blend that reads, "Horrible! The room was spinning for hours! I hated it! I usually only smoke mild aromatics." For that reason, I hesitate to even post a review. I'm definitely still learning, but I'm getting a pretty firm grasp on what my likes and dislikes are....and, like doctorthoss, I'm not the right kind of smoker to appreciate this kind of blend. So take my review with a grain of salt.

I was kindly gifted some LGF by DanR (thanks again!). Beautiful clean cut golden flakes with very little tin (errr...ziplock bag) note. It's a tad moist, but smokeable. I tried one bowl fresh from the bag rubbed out, and a second bowl dried for an hour and fold-n-stuffed. The second bowl was definitely better behaved, but the first bowl wasn't particularly fussy. I don't detect any difference in the flavor experience between the two bowls. I don't fold and stuff very often, but this flake seems very well suited for it. Nicotine is quite mild. 

Flavor is also quite mild. There must be only a smidgen of burley, because I don't taste it at all. Mostly I taste just mild golden virginias. Perique? Yeah...there's a little, but it seems kind of out-of-place in this blend, if that makes sense. The pepper from the perique stands out a little too much. Bites if I push it, but that pretty much goes without saying for this style of blend. The flavor does improve towards the bottom of the bowl and I start to pick up a bit more sweetness.

The only thing even remotely close to LGF that I do enjoy is Orlick Golden Sliced. LGF costs almost twice as much as OGS, lacks OGS's interesting citrus topping, and just overall isn't as tasty as OGS.

Decent enough for what it is, but there's no room for it in my cellar.


----------



## Smoke King David (Mar 11, 2007)

I echo the previous comment. I thought that the tobac was good, but not great. I, too, prefer other light VAs such as Orlik GS...and MacBaren VA #1. Still, I will finish my tin and will enjoy doing so.


----------



## mikebjrtx (May 21, 2012)

doctorthoss said:


> I do smoke a few "milder" blends, but they tend to be either Carter Hall or aromatics like Classic Burley Kake, Autumn Evening, etc. Sadly, I have found that aromatics tend to be even worse about blasting my palate than are heavy English mixtures!
> I feel much the same way about LGF as I do about most VA-based flakes, with very few exceptions (mostly Lakelands) --- I just find them too mild and too subtle. YMMV, of course!


I envy you for that aged LGF. I like it new but I love it aged. The grainy flavors get brighter and the sweetness takes on a old honey flavor. You might try taking a day or two off and coming back to it.


----------



## doctorthoss (Jun 28, 2010)

mikebjrtx said:


> I envy you for that aged LGF. I like it new but I love it aged. The grainy flavors get brighter and the sweetness takes on a old honey flavor. You might try taking a day or two off and coming back to it.


PM me if you're interested in a trade....


----------



## El wedo del milagro (Jul 3, 2012)

I've smoked three bowls of this now. I wanted to like it but don't yet, maybe I haven't tried it on the right day yet.

The problem is probably that it's a VAper/burley. I LOVE VA and burley, but VApers are one of those baccys that I only like on the right day... most of the time they are kinda nasty to me.

Well, three trys and each time it burnt my tongue and dried the top of my mouth. Sharp, acidic, and bitter. None of the usual pepper that I like occasionally in a VAper. On the up side it it was easy to rub out, pack, easy to light, and burned well. Sadly, it tasted horrible. :-(


----------



## DanR (Nov 27, 2010)

I REALLY like this blend!

I tend to shy away from really strong VaPers, strong being heavy in Perique. I've even posted before that I must be a little bit "sensitive" to perique as it usually tastes too peppery to me. I rarely get the fruity flavors that some people boast about. However, I will say that I am starting to appreciate them more and will occasionally find myself craving a nice pepper kick from a blend like escudo or bayou morning flake. 

As Desertlifter stated in his review, LGF seems to have just the right balance for me. I taste the Perique (in the form of pepper) but its just enough to complement the grassy, haylike flavors of the virginia tobacco. I also like the fact that this is a no nonsense blend, just straightforward tobacco flavors. It's sweet, grassy, and slightly peppery. What's not to love? 

As far as the burley is concerned, I believe them when they say it's in there, but I sure don't taste it, which is good for me. I like burley well enough, but I think it's best when it plays a second fiddle to a nice Virgina tobacco. Maybe it's there just to amp up the nicotine content a bit?

The flakes are probably the most memorable part of this tobacco. When they say "long", they aren't kidding! They're probably as long as my arm, and rolled nicely into their golden tin. if I remember correctly, the last tin I popped had two flakes, which means each was about 50 grams.

I smoke this one pretty regularly, and will continue. As I stated earlier, I REALLY like this blend!


----------



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

El wedo del milagro said:


> Well, three trys and each time it burnt my tongue and *dried the top of my mouth. * Sharp, acidic, and bitter. None of the usual pepper that I like occasionally in a VAper. On the up side it it was easy to rub out, pack, easy to light, and burned well. Sadly, it tasted horrible. :-(


Sounds like you're allergic to it. I think I have the same problem with LTF. out:


----------



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Returning to LGF after a long layoff, I remembered my enthusiastic review for OGS, LGF's lightweight fraternal twin; LGF is at least junior middleweight, I would think. They look remarkably alike, in the main, but LGF is bigger and brawnier, with a bit more of everything. Not much more, but a heftier perique and nicotine punch, perhaps from LGF's burley. LGF has a detectable nicotine level, something I could find none of in OGS. The perique remains too light to get in the ring with the likes of Louisiana Flake or Bayou Morning Flake, but enough for a sturdy jab to nose early on. 

I'd be happy with OGS, but I'm happier with LGF, price be damned. I was mistaken in my OGS review, I think; I do prefer the LGF. As I spill the end of the bowl into the ashtray, I remember what a fine, white ash remains -- and nothing else. Good tobacco, that. It always disappears quickly after I open it.


----------

